That which is established by evidential or experiential proof. A number of qurʾānic lexemes convey this significance
( ḥaqq, qayyim, ṣawāb, ṣadaqa/ ṣidq), ḥaqq being the most prevalent. Evidence abounds in the Muslim tradition to support a multivalent understanding of
ḥaqq as alternatively “true” or “real,” yet that is only the beginning of a story with a pre-history. “The original meaning of the Arabic root
ḥ-q-q has been obscured but can be recovered by reference to the corresponding root in Hebrew with its meanings of (a) ‘to cut in, engrave’ in wood, ston…